Geography

Oman is a 1,000-mile-long (1,700 km) coastal
plain at the southeast tip of the Arabian Peninsula lying on the Arabian
Sea and the Gulf of Oman. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates,
Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. The country is the size of Kansas.

Government

Absolute monarchy.

History

Arabs migrated to Oman from the 9th century
BC
onward, and conversion to Islam occurred
in the 7th century
AD
Muscat, the capital of
the geographical area known as Oman, was occupied by the Portuguese from
1508 to 1648. Then it fell to Ottoman Turks, but in 1741, Ahmad ibn Sa'id
forced them out, and the descendants of Sultan Ahmad rule Oman today.

Ahmad expanded his empire to East Africa, and
for a time the Omani capital was in Zanzibar. After 1861, however,
Zanzibar fell from Omani control.

The sultans and imams of Oman clashed
continuously throughout the 20th century until 1959, when the last Ibadi
imam was evicted from the country. In a palace coup on July 23, 1970, the
sultan, Sa'id bin Taimur, who had ruled since 1932, was overthrown by his
son, Qabus ibn Sa'id, who promised to establish a modern government and
use newfound oil wealth to aid the people of this very isolated state.
Oman joined the Arab League and the United Nations in 1971.

A long border dispute with Yemen was resolved in
Oct. 1992; in 1997, the countries agreed to new maps defining the
border.

In 1997, Sultan Qabus granted women the right to
be elected to the country's consultative body, the Shura Council (Majlis
al-Shura). In 2003, the sultan extended voting rights to everyone over 21;
previously, voters were selected from among the elite, and only about a
quarter of the population was allowed to vote.